Heck, who'd thunk it but 'spiritual home of grunge' Seattle does have a glam underground, and the three dudes who call themselves Space Cretins seem to be responsible for keeping it alive all these years, boasting time served in a whole host of bands with names that wouldn'ta have got them anywhere but the deepest recesses of the underground, for instance Ace Diamond Bimbos, Northwest Breeders, the Suffocated, and the Berserkers.

In their latest outfit Paul Diamond Blow, Danger Dayne Bam Bam and Markass Karkass surf the outer limits of the absurd, manning the glam space station Bowie blasted into orbit when he started looking to the skies for inspiration, and taking the Ramones and skewy L.A.sleaze of the Space Afe Playboys for driving songs of choice on their voyage. I'm not sure if I believe their story that the concept for the band was born following a chance encounter with Willaim Shatner in a Hong Kong kareoke bar, but it's not implausible in light of Tokyo trash like 'Plastic', surreal, hallucininogen induced stoner sleaze 'Let's Get Spaced Out', or the darn right silly 'Merry Christmas, Baby'. Not about to offer any startly insights, or indeed challenge the intellect in any way, but sure to bring a smile to the faces of big kids who never outgrew the thrill of neon Nick 'toons and e-number rich, chemically reactive candy.

-Aisling Marks
                            Read more...
                        

                            
Take one glance at either the band name or album title and you’re sure to realize that this may not be the most serious of releases. Indeed it’s safe to say there’s a lot of childishness about the Space Cretins, from a cosmos spanning persona to a heap of corny rock ’n’ roll song titles. But don’t be fooled, there’s more to it than that.

The clearest thing about ‘Direct From the Superfreak Highway’ is that the Seattle based trio is having fun with what it’s doing, but also paying homage to its heroes and influences. For every moment of curb-crawling rock (think G N’ R) there’s a twang of electro-cum-glam deviance (Ziggy Stardust). For every moment of hair-metal (Kiss) there’s a pang or 70/80’s punk-rock (Bad Religion/The Misfits). It’s a mixed bag that has no remorse.

Each track is 0-60 in a cosmic second. It’s fast-paced and unrelenting in its intention to amuse. The musical equivalent of a quick fumble in a dark alleyway, if you will.
                            Read more...
                        

                            
If your not scared of heights and you love to reach for the skies and if you ever wondered if there was life out there beyond the Galaxy! You were right -- We are not alone! If you're ready to blast off, take a Ride with the Space Cretins!!!  And get your hands on there New CD called Direct from The Super Freak High Way...  Its a Mind Meld!!!
                            Read more...
                        

                            
Evergreen rock n' roll stuporhero Paul Diamond Blow rallies his Seattle troops once more for a hi-fi sci-fi rocket-ride through the groovier outreaches of 70's glam for what I am going to assume, given the space-centric titles and lyrics, is a concept record about...I'm thinking the downfall of Space Hog? Something like that. The music, by the way, is fuckin' stellar. I don't know if I've ever written about these dudes before, but this is no measly, skinny-armed glampunk band, these dudes wield heavy axes, and write full-on acid-glam party-punk epics. They're like a sleazy T Rex writing the soundtrack for a $10 million dollar remake of Wham Bam Thank You Mr. Spaceman starring Summer Cummings and Jesus. Throw on any of these tripped-out laser-rock flip-outs: Get Spaced, Rocket Roll, Future Hoppin', etc, and you'll get a snoutful of melt-the-floor rawk sprinkled liberally with fizzy pop flavors. Fans of Science Fiction Idols, Robin Black, Crash Kelly, all that good, gooey nu-glam oughta adjust the dials on your jet-age rock-receivers and tune into these crazy transmissions.

-Sleaze
                            Read more...